11/30/2018
Hi everyone, it appears that the gov't likes to get the news out on Fridays. The DHS announced today that it will publish a proposed rule on December 3, 2018 to seek public comments regarding its proposed rule to require any employer who would like to file for an H-1B visa petition next year to first register in an electronic registration system. Below is the excerpt of the proposed changes:
3. Proposed Changes
DHS proposes to establish a mandatory electronic registration requirement that would address some of the current operational challenges associated with the H-1B cap-subject petition process. The electronic registration would commence before the H-1B cap filing season, which currently begins on April 1 each year (or the next business day if April 1 falls on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday). The proposed rule would require petitioners to create an account and electronically register through the USCIS Web site each prospective H-1B worker on whose behalf the petitioner seeks to file an H-1B cap-subject petition. DHS estimates that each unique account creation by a petitioner would take 0.17 hours and each electronic registration for a unique beneficiary would take 0.5 hours to complete.27 DHS describes in further detail how the proposed electronic registration process would work in the preamble.
Only those with a selected registration would be eligible to submit an associated H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of a cap-subject H-1B worker to USCIS. As described previously in the preamble, registrants would receive notification of selection and could then proceed to obtaining a certified LCA from DOL and afterward proceed to preparing and filing H-1B cap-subject petitions with USCIS. Those with registrations that are not selected would not have to complete and file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the H-1B cap-subject worker named in the unselected registration, as they would be ineligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for that beneficiary in that fiscal year.
Additionally, DHS is proposing to change the H-1B random selection process to provide more H-1B visas to beneficiaries with master’s degrees or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education. DHS is proposing to change the H-1B selection process by first selecting H-1B registrations towards the projected number of petitions needed to meet the 65,000 regular cap limit, which would include all cap-subject beneficiaries, including those with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education. Then USCIS would select registrations that are eligible for the 20,000 advanced degree exemption, which are those with master’s degrees or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education, towards the projected number needed to reach the advanced degree exemption. This proposed process would allow those petitions with beneficiaries who have a master’s degree or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education a greater chance to be selected.
You can download the entire unpublished version here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/03/2018-26106/registration-requirement-for-petitioners-seeking-to-file-h-1b-petitions-on-behalf-of-cap-subject
Let us know if you have any questions.
BRAVLIN PC
Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File H-1B Petitions on Behalf of Cap-Subject Aliens
